Chilean salmon and trout farmer AquaChile has harvested its first Verlasso salmon, the company’s premium brand, at the farms purchased last year in Region XII, also known as Magallanes, in the extreme south of Chilean Patagonia.
The company said that its harvest at latitude 60 degrees south – in order to “fill orders for clients all over the U.S. and Europe” – was evidence of meeting its brand mission of sustainability at scale. AquaChile touted the harvested salmon’s “richness and flavor like nowhere else on the planet,” thanks to being raised in convergence zones along Chile’s coast where low salinity waters circulate through the farms.
“Harvesting in Magallanes means Verlasso is raised in pristine conditions, reaffirming AquaChile’s commitment not only to sustainability but to the economic future of the company and the communities we support," Verlasso Salmon Global Commercial Manager Vicente de la Cruz said.
Verlasso was the first farmed fish to achieve the Good Alternative rating by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, and it is 4-Star Best Aquaculture Practices-certified and harvested from Aquaculture Stewardship Council-certified sites.
Chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern, executive producer and host of the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” and “The Zimmern List,” was enlisted last year by the Verlasso brand to document AquaChile's production methods at is salmon production facility in Chile. The project formed part of the development of a documentary spearheaded by Zimmern's production company to follow the aquaculture firm’s salmon production process from egg to plate.
AquaChile has also been active in exploring different marketing efforts for Verlasso, having donated salmon products to two events this year during Taste of the NFL and the Super Bowl.
As Chile’s largest salmon producer and the second-largest worldwide, resulting from a 2018 sector consolidation, the company has commercial presence in 40 countries, with more than 350 direct customers. It has 5,515 employees in Chile, 15 freshwater facilities, and 139 farming sites at sea. It produced 188,050 tons of harvested salmon and trout in 2019.
The company recently received approval for a capital increase of USD 245 million (EUR 208 million) and received the transfer of Pesquera Los Fiordos Limitada from parent company Agrosuper at its anual shareholders meeting on Thursday, 29 October. The move will effectively transfer all of Agrosuper’s salmon operations, including its SuperSalmon brand, to AquaChile’s management.
Photo courtesy of AquaChile
